Section Hiking White Mountains June

[susanblackberry]

I section hike every June. This year I will tackle the Whites. My question is... With all the snow this winter, will it be thawed by June? I'm a bit worried. Also, when should I start reserving a space for huts? Finally do you know of people who will pick up your pack, drop it off at the last resort (don't know the name of it) while I slack pack hut to hut? Thanks for advice blackberry

[peakbagger]

I guess you like bugs ;) Black flies the scourge of the woods, are "usually" an issue until mid June and then the mosquitoes move in although they are more an issue down low. Most would consider July to be better hiking weather for NH and Maine.

Yes the snow will be thawed by June although there are couple of snow fields that usually hang on into June, nothing dangerous just something to make a snowman and take a picture of it especially early in the month.

The hut reservations start filling up months in advance for weekends although due to bug season June has more openings although Lakes of the Clouds (AKA Lake of the Crowds), Madison and Greenleaf get a bit more busy the weekend closest to June 21st because of the solstice and the associated folks who do the one day Presidential Traverse. Try to avoid the big three huts on weekends. During the week the rest of the them should be open unless some group books one.

There are no pack forwarding services that I am aware of. You may be able to work something out with a shuttle firm but its not a normal business that I am aware of. You might want to check with AMC when you make reservations. Note you really do not slackpack between huts, you still need a lot of gear but less of it and no tent. In June you should still carry a sleeping bag and a bivy as there is no heat in the huts bunkrooms and you could get stranded between huts due to nasty weather. They have wool blankets at the huts but are only washed once a season at best. You may want to talk to the Notch Hostel in North Woodstock NH https://notchhostel.com/ on possibly just sending your excess gear to a hostel in Gorham. Not sure where you consider the whites to end Most folks consider US RT2 in Shelburne NH. The Rattle River hostel is right next door to the trailhead https://rattleriverhostel.com/. They are not open in winter but may be able to support you pack forwarding concept.

Note that Notch Hostel is on the northbound side of Moosilaukee so you will be lugging a full pack up and over and will need to hitch or walk 3 miles down the road to the hostel.

[susanblackberry]

Thanks, I'll probably just lug it all then and wear a bug net. I need to start at Hanover and would like to go 40 miles into Maine. Do you need to stay in huts or can I just tent? I've heard so many different things. Thanks, blackberry

[tdoczi]

i obviously don't have the experience that people who live in the area do, but for 3 straight years i hiked in the whites the first week in june and never had any bug issues of any note. once, near the summit of mt adams, there was a swarm or two but it was a nuisance for all of 5 minutes. there was some snow on the ground but nothing problematic, and the best part is the huts, even lakes, were empty. i once had a whole bunk room at carter notch to myself, that was pretty sweat.

i sometimes wonder if things like the bug problem isnt partially imaginary, or at least self fulfilling or something like that. what i mean is that people hear how terrible the bugs are so they never go hiking. having never gone they really have no evidence of how bad or not the bugs were.

i have no doubt its possible to run into a nasty swarm of black flies and that its incredibly unpleasant if you do, but the notion that theres a time of year when you dont dare enter the woods because its a near certainty you will seems to in my limited experience to not really be the case.

the worst bugs i've yet to encounter in my life were on isle royale, and even they werent nearly as bad as the horror stories that are told about new england in june. and the only time i think i've been bitten by a black fly was actually in southern VA.

[peakbagger]

There is no law that says you need to stay in the huts. Be careful, there are "Huts", and there are "Shelters" Huts are full service that serve meals, shelters are just a standard shelter as found along the rest of the AT. AMC has caretakers at the the most popular shelters in the whites along the AT and you need to pay a fee to stay there. The place you want to consider staying in a full service hut are Lake of the Crowds as there is no convenient camping options nearby. There are regulations for camping in the whites including the AT. They are covered in this https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5363715.pdf . It is either unintentionally or deliberately confusing as it mixes things you should not do and things you cannot do. The third page covers the cannots the second page are Leave No Trace recommendations that are good to do but not required. Its pretty simple the rules are no camping above treeline and 1/4 of a mile of an established campsite, shelter or hut. The more practical issue is on most ridgelines that the AT traverse in NH are boreal spruce/fir woods that are dense interlocking woods with nowhere to camp. In order to get down to the hardwoods you need to drop down off the ridgeline usually 1 mile or about a 1000 feet in elevation to find a flat spot unless you stay at an established hut, shelter or campsite. Note that there are a couple of side trails that are specifically set as no camping in the brochure. In addition to the AMC huts do some research on the RMC facilties on Mt Adams as they have two cabins and a shelter just below treeline. These do not have any services and are about 1000 feet in elevation and 1 mile off the AT. They do not do reservations in order to get to hardwoods its another 1000 feet down.

Once you hit US RT2 you are out of the whites and then you can stay at the various campsites and shelters along the Mahoosucs. Forty miles into Maine gets you in the Andover Maine area. Note there is recent thread about getting home from Andover which you may wanto to read. There is lot to be said or stopping in Gorham NH as it is the last easy way to get a bus to an airport, everything north of the there gets far more expensive and complicated unless you really like to do long hitches.

The standard caveat applies that the whites and the Mahoosucs are unlike any part of the AT south of Glencliff. There are hints of it in VT but once you hit Glencliff, then whatever daily mileage you normally maintain should be substantially lowered. Many thru hikers fly along from Hanover to Glencliff in 20 to 25 miles day range and suddenly discover the next day going over Moosilaukee that they have to cut their mileage way back and buy more supplies. At a minimum plan to drop your daily miles by 1/3 up to 1/2. Unless you are actively hiking up in the whites on a frequent basis there is no pre training that is going to get you ready for it, you just need to be in good shape and learn to set a slow pace.

[Slo-go'en]

Most of the expensive huts can be avoided by using the shelters and tent platforms. You should plan on using Lake of the Clouds and Madison hut to break up the long above tree line traverse, where there is no camping allowed, even if your dying. No excuses. Carter notch hut would also be a good one to use as there is only one shelter up along the ridge and it's a long hard walk to get there from Pinkham.

If you want to use all the huts and only carry minimal gear, one possibility is to mail the extra stuff to Gorham from Woodstock, where there is a hostel. It would probably be less expensive then getting it shuttled. It's a good couple hour round trip drive from the Hostel in Woodstock to Gorham.

Activity at the shelter/tent platforms is reasonably quiet in June so finding space at those locations shouldn't be a problem. They are spaced a good days hike apart for the average hiker. Camping between these designated spots is either not practical or illegal, so you need to plan on using the designated sites.

There is one nasty snow field to cross on the side of Jefferson which lasts well into June. If you slip, you end up crashing into boulders about 200 feet down.

Black flies are hit or miss. They breed in shallow running water and live in spruce/pine trees, conditions which are found a bit higher up the mountain, starting at about 3,000 feet. A lot of the campsites meet this criteria. For some reason, they like to hang out at the summits, I think the wind blows them up there.

Down in the hardwood forest they are less of a problem. Because of the general trend towards warmer and earlier spring weather, the Black Flies are more of a problem in May now then they are in June. But they are around all summer.

[tdoczi]

Most of the expensive huts can be avoided by using the shelters and tent platforms. You should plan on using Lake of the Clouds and Madison hut to break up the long above tree line traverse, where there is no camping allowed, even if your dying. No excuses. Carter notch hut would also be a good one to use as there is only one shelter up along the ridge and it's a long hard walk to get there from Pinkham.


i've done lakes to pinkham to end a hike, and ive down pinkham to crawford as a short day to begin a hike.

were i doing one continuous hike i think i'd do lakes to osgood (unless i was up for paying to stay at joe dodge) and osgood to carter.

also, isnt there a campground right near carter notch? or is the OP looking only for shelters, if so i missed that detail.

[Feral Bill]

In addition to being illegal, camping above treeline in the Whites is a really bad idea, I've done so when it was legal. It can get very foul very fast up there.

[peakbagger]

i obviously don't have the experience that people who live in the area do, but for 3 straight years i hiked in the whites the first week in june and never had any bug issues of any note. once, near the summit of mt adams, there was a swarm or two but it was a nuisance for all of 5 minutes. there was some snow on the ground but nothing problematic, and the best part is the huts, even lakes, were empty. i once had a whole bunk room at carter notch to myself, that was pretty sweat.

i sometimes wonder if things like the bug problem isnt partially imaginary, or at least self fulfilling or something like that. what i mean is that people hear how terrible the bugs are so they never go hiking. having never gone they really have no evidence of how bad or not the bugs were.

i have no doubt its possible to run into a nasty swarm of black flies and that its incredibly unpleasant if you do, but the notion that theres a time of year when you dont dare enter the woods because its a near certainty you will seems to in my limited experience to not really be the case.

the worst bugs i've yet to encounter in my life were on isle royale, and even they werent nearly as bad as the horror stories that are told about new england in june. and the only time i think i've been bitten by a black fly was actually in southern VA.

Its highly dependent on snow pack. Black flies are important part of the food web in streams. Usually not an issue on a ridge as there is a breeze and not a lot of fresh running water but down low like the stretch after Kinsman Notch to the base of South Kinsman, Cascade Brook trail and the stretch between Zealand and Ethan Pond they can be real nasty in the right conditions. The standard saying is the black flies come by mothers day and leave by fathers day. The stretch of the Mahoosucs from RT 2 to Mt Success can be downright nasty also. I have friends in Shelburne who live down where several side trails dump drop down by their house. In year when the bugs are bad they have hikers coming out of the woods, knocking on the door, calling for a shuttle and heading home. There is no guarantee they will or will not be bad on a particular year or season but its lot more likely they will be far less bad in July then June.

[Slo-go'en]

In addition to being illegal, camping above treeline in the Whites is a really bad idea, I've done so when it was legal. It can get very foul very fast up there.

As far as I know, it's never been legal to camp above tree line. There used to be an emergency shelter at Edmonds Col, but it was taken out because people were using it as a destination, leaving trash and polluting the area with their poop and doing serious damage to the fragile alpine vegetation around it.

[Slo-go'en]

i've done lakes to pinkham to end a hike, and ive down pinkham to crawford as a short day to begin a hike.
were i doing one continuous hike i think i'd do lakes to osgood (unless i was up for paying to stay at joe dodge) and osgood to carter.
also, isnt there a campground right near carter notch? or is the OP looking only for shelters, if so i missed that detail.
Pinkham to Crawford is not a short day. I think you mean Mizpah to Crawford. Depending on which trail you take, that can be a short day or a long day.

There is no camping near Carter notch. RUA area. There is an illegal tent site at Zeta pass, but the only legal spot is at the Imp shelter.

[tdoczi]

Pinkham to Crawford is not a short day. I think you mean Mizpah to Crawford. Depending on which trail you take, that can be a short day or a long day.

There is no camping near Carter notch. RUA area. There is an illegal tent site at Zeta pass, but the only legal spot is at the Imp shelter.

oops. i actually meant pinkham to carter notch. got my C words crossed.

[Feral Bill]

As far as I know, it's never been legal to camp above tree line. There used to be an emergency shelter at Edmonds Col, but it was taken out because people were using it as a destination, leaving trash and polluting the area with their poop and doing serious damage to the fragile alpine vegetation around it. It was almost 50 years ago. Quite legal and common at the time. It took one stormy night for me to not repeat, except properly equipped in winter. And yes, I remember that storm shelter well. Good riddance.

[susanblackberry]

Thanks! I feel better

[susanblackberry]

Thank you! That helps!